THE seat distribution issue facing the opposition in Sabah is yet to be resolved, said state Pakatan Harapan chairman Christina Liew.

“I respect the views of the component parties in Sabah PH. PKR is still open to negotiations with other opposition parties.

“We can’t say there is no more room for negotiations as the objective is clear – to win the 14th general election and form the next government,” she told The Malaysian Insight.  

Her comments came following reports of a tiff between Parti Warisan Sabah and the state DAP regarding seat allocations.

Liew, who is also state PKR chairman and Api-Api assemblyman, said achieving cooperation between the state’s opposition parties was a top priority, so as to avoid multi-cornered fights in GE14, due to be called by August.

On Monday, the state DAP had described as “unfair” the Warisan suggestion that the party focus only on urban areas, and leave out rural ones.

State DAP chairman Stephen Wong had said  it hoped to contest 12 out of the 60 state seats and five out of the 25 parliamentary seats in Sabah, including the rural seats of Bingkor, Sook and Melalap.

Yesterday, he said the party would contest in Likas, the seat won by Warisan vice-president Junz Wong in GE13 on a DAP ticket.

The disagreement between Warisan and the state DAP on the issue surfaced amid informal talks on the formation of an electoral pact between PH and local opposition parties.

Liew said the matter would be resolved before GE14.

“The people of Sabah are hopeful that the opposition coalition will take over as the government. We can’t let them down. The people’s interests are our interests.” – January 18, 2018.